insurance

Day: November 13, 2017

With Online Bill Pay, you can securely pay your bills whenever you want. No more writing checks. No more stamps and envelopes. Online Bill Pay with your credit union allows you to pay any bill, any person and any company, without ever touching a pen. It does not matter if your bills are paper or electronic. Online Bill Pay will make the payment for you. Best of all, it's fast, easy and free!

I love paying my bills online. In fact, I think I've only written three or four checks in the last year and they were all sent to individuals, not a company. I really love the convenience. So, besides the convenience of online bill pay, what are the other advantages of paying bills online?

Save Time . I can pay a stack of bills in less than 10 minutes and that includes signing in to my online account.

Save Money. Now that a first class stamp costs $ .49 it makes paying your bills the old-fashioned way pretty expensive. If you have 10 or more bills every month you will be spending approximately $ 5 per month. Online bill pay at most credit unions is free so that adds up to a savings of $ 60 per year.

Increase Security. Using online bill pay can help prevent identity theft and give you additional security to your transactions. Online bill pay at most credit unions use the latest technology and security to keep your financial information secure.

Support the Environment. It's amazing how much can be made if everyone makes an effort to improve the environment. Did you know reducing the amount of paper that is used saves forests and reduces greenhouse gasses and fuel emissions? Less paper means more green. Check out Pay It Green to find out other steps that can be taken to improve the environment by using online bill pay.

The benefits described above are the most obvious but there are many more:

Pay bills from anywhere.

Control when bills get paid to avoid late fees.

Pay bills individually or in batches.

Schedule one-time or recurring payments.

Access your payment status and payment history.

Only enter payee information once with convenient customizable payee list.

There has been a burst of technological advances over the past several years so it surprises me that more people have not started using online banking. I'm urging you to take advantage of online bill pay to save time and money, decrease clutter and most importantly improve your financial management. …

Travel insurance policies come in different types of packages, with all manner of options and choices. It is designed this way for a reason, of course. You would not want to pay for cover that you are unlikely to need, or skimp on cover you should have.

A basic policy may be adequate, or you may find you’ll be more comfortable paying a bit more to obtain higher levels of cover, as needed. It often depends on where you plan to travel. Let’s say you plan to travel to a destination such as Madagascar, which has limited medical facilities. In the case of a serious medical emergency you may have to be transferred by air ambulance to another country for treatment. Therefore, you would be wise to pick a policy that offers the maximum cover for medical emergencies. It should also include cover for air ambulance and medical repatriation. If you check you may find that a very cheap policy does not include this cover.

You will need to decide whether to opt for a Single Trip or Annual Multi-trip policy. If there is any possibility that you may take more than one trip in a year the Annual policy is normally the best value for money. On many policies children are included free – which is a major saving for family holidays.

Travel insurance premiums normally increase depending on where in the world you are travelling. For example, the cost of travel insurance for a British citizen travelling to Europe would be less than if they were flying long-haul to a destination such as North America or Australia.

Most travel insurance companies offer different levels of cover so that you can choose. Paying a bit more for the next level should affect the amount the insurer will pay on a claim, or increase the amount of items covered. Pay attention to the amount of Excess (Deductible) included as it may be much higher on a cheap policy. (This is the amount you have to pay towards a claim). To keep the premium very low it is often the case that levels of cover have been cut or the amount of Excess increased.

When it comes to pre-existing medical conditions the cost may increase dramatically for serious pre-existing conditions, or the insurer may not offer cover at all. Most often though the average company will agree to cover a specific condition for an extra premium, or with the understanding that any claims related to the condition are excluded. This can be a bitter pill to swallow for those that are affected.

Unfortunately, it is a fact that travel insurance for seniors is usually more expensive because of the assumed increased risk of a medical problem arising – despite the fact that our seniors are probably healthier these days than they have ever been!

Winter sports (skiing/snowboarding) insurance can be added to a typical travel insurance policy for an additional fee. Other add-ons may include cover for activities such as: